Tattered And Torn
by The Plasma King
Summary: Some things are worth fighting for. Others are worth killing for. But the ones that you truly want more than anything are worth doing what you never thought you would. Akitsu X OC. Continuation of Getting Rid Of The Numbness.
1. Kill Me

I suppose this not an actual chapter as much as it is a very long Author's Note and recap. This is a continuation of my story Getting Rid Of The Numbness, which got deleted due to my severe ADHD and Dyslexia.

Okay I lied. This is not exactly a continuation, per se, of my other story Getting Rid Of The Numbness. This was written after it predecessor was taken down. But after re-uploading Numbness, I figured, why not completely rework it for the better? Why be anchored when I can do so much more than what was done in the past? So basically, this is it's own tale... for want of a better phrase.

_Numbness_ focused on the Discarded Sekirei Akitsu and Kessler, an OC created by my writing partner/consultant.

We all know who Akitsu is.

Kessler is a Bostonian heir, engineer, and chronic alcoholic and gambling addict. He is always seen holding a silver cane and dressed in a very formal getup; tailcoat suit sans necktie, dress gloves, heeled black dress shoes with spats. He is also violently tempered and subconsciously suicidal. In the prologue, it was heavily implied that he becomes an incredibly violent warlord of the Sekrei Plan. Having gone through an extremely horrific and traumatic childhood, he has spent his entire adulthood traveling the world, burning through his vast fortune, and causing playful debauchery whilst purposely poisoning himself with alcohol because he wishes to either numb himself of all emotions perfectly and permanently, or just simply die since he believes that his life was already taken from him when he watched his father murder his mother and then commit suicide. Eventually, he gets sick of waiting for massive bodily damage to take him away from his irrepressible torment, and heads out to the Land of the Rising Sun to go out with a bang. But before he can even get a shot of liquor inside of him, he literally runs into a mysterious woman (or more accurately, she ran into him). All his determination to die disappears when he looks into her sad grey eyes. After a very short conversation, the woman passes out and Kessler notices that his entire lower body is coated with blood.

After taking her back to his hotel room in a redundant attempt to tend to her then nonexistent wounds, they give each other their names; Akitsu and Kessler. After he tells her that he had decided to save her because he saw her as a living dignified being, Akitsu almost immediately falls in love with him. It doesn't take long for them to walk down a private alter, and shortly after Kessler finds a rival in Mikogami, a stubborn boy whom Kessler would take immense joy in tormenting and besting who also inadvertently revealed to Kessler the Sekirei Plan. After finding out everything from his new wife, Kessler begins to wing several Sekirei of his own over time. His own harem begins with Taki and Karasuba. Shortly after winging the latter, he and Minato are introduced to one another, and soon move in together at Maison Izumo.

Whilst helping his friend and housemate search for the Green Girl, the rivalry between Kessler and Mikogami grows when the Ashikabi of the South orders his Sekirei to slash her whip across Kessler's face, and he soon passes out from blood loss and awakens to find that he now sports a hideous linear scar across the left side of his face and a silver canine tooth. Right after checking himself out of the hospital, he runs into and wings the Lightning Twins.

Things simmer down and become stagnant. All is calm and Kessler and Matsu begin to steal data on what MBI did to Akitsu to attempt to reverse engineer it and "fix" her. Nothing significant happens until Taki is murdered by the Veiled Sekirei. After deducing who she really is, Kessler lets Karasuba chase after and kill Uzume without a second thought (this act results in him earning the title of The War Ashikabi), and then reluctantly wings Kazehana after she tries to seduce him **(However, in the rewritten version, which is now up, this might not happen. Haven't gotten that far yet.)** After meeting the Veiled One's Ashikabi, he fully realizes the situation, and murders Higa. Shortly after, he further humiliates his rival Mikogami when Karasuba easily beats his own Sekirei in a duel of a match in the Third Phase.

Afterwards he begins drinking heavily for the first time in a while, but quickly goes cold turkey when Akitsu tells him that she's pregnant. Naturally he goes through withdrawal


	2. Something Aches

Prologue. The very near future...

Jack Kessler stood with his wife Akitsu in a graveyard on the outskirts of Massachusetts. They were the only ones there. The sky was the same shade of grey as Akitsu's eyes. A wind was blowing with just enough force to make a chilling whistling noise. Akitsu was wearing a dress the same color of a storm cloud and her usual detached expression. Kessler wore a sheer white tailcoat suit. If he wore dark colors it would imply that he was mourning, and he wouldn't mourn for the person in the grave before them if his life depended on it. Kessler felt a very strange feeling inside; there he was holding onto his soulmate and bride, and at the same time he was looking at the patch of earth and headstone that belonged to the man he hated with both a passion and every fiber of his being. He gently and slowly began to untwined his and Akitsu's fingers. She resisted and tensed her hand for a second, but complied. Kessler took a few steps forward and stopped advancing when the gap between him and the headstone was about six feet. He read the words chiseled into the stone, and he clenched his hands tightly into fists as a fiery rage seethed out of him. He reared his head back, hacked, and then thrusted his head forward and spat on the gravestone.

"FUCK YOU!" he shouted. For some reason he found himself still looking at the headstone rather than the actual grave. It was probably the name inscribed on it. It was a name Kessler would never forget and it belonged to someone he would never forgive.

'Here lies Michael Corben.

A hard-working and loyal man.'

Fiction. The writing in its entirety was false. Well... Sort of.

"Yeah you sure were loyal alright!" Kessler continued shouting. "Loyal to your crusade of making everybody around you miserable! All my life I've known this, but I've never given a single fuck to come and say it to ya! Well I'll scream it as loud as I can: I'M FUCKIN' ECSTATIC YOU'RE DEAD!"

Two years of teaching his bride to speak his native tongue hadn't gone to waste. Akitsu understood every word he said. She could understand that he was in turmoil and this was the best way to solve it; to let him vent out everything. She couldn't measure how happy she was that this wasn't really the man she had fallen in love with. This was an incarnation of all of Kessler's bottled up rage that needed to be let out and heard, and then it would go away.

"You... you...! You are the reason for everything wrong in my life!" And he began to name off a list; leaving him all alone in life. Inadvertently killing all his unborn siblings. Making him want to hurt himself everyday for over fifteen years. OD'ing twice. Getting him addicted to hard liquor and gambling.

Akitsu watched and listened in dead silence as he continued to add things to his list of blames. After about a minute, he started to slow down his ranting. He then stopped all together, and he dropped to his knees.

He broke down.

Misery was the only thing he could feel at that moment since he had finally unleashed twenty years of repressed hatred onto his long since dead father. His suffering vanished when Akitsu ran up behind him and wrapped her arms around him after getting onto her knees as well.

His eyes stopped producing tears and he stood up and returned her loving embrace. He kissed her. The area around them became brighter, and Kessler wasn't sure if it was the sunlight breaking through the clouds... or something much more closer to him.


	3. Bad Things Slither

For the first time in nearly a fortnight, Kessler felt peaceful inside. He was lying down in the Inn's backyard with his shoulders propped up against the tree. One of his legs was bent so that his foot was flat on the ground and the other was lying on the ground straight as a line. His arms were gently wrapped around Akitsu, who was lying down on him so that they were chest-to-chest. She had her head turned to the side and also had her arms around her spouse. Her head was positioned on him so that his chin and neck were resting on her soft silky hair. As he laid there Kessler had a clear view of the entire yard. He looked at Karasuba sparring with Musubi and Kazehana getting plastered on the slanted roof. He inwardly laughed as he saw how... chaotic his life was, but it was a good chaotic. He closed his eyes and thought back to the night he met the first Sekirei he ever saw...

**XXXXXX FLASHBACK**

Kessler was walking along one of the many streets of the capital. The night was young, clear, and just the right temperature. He donned a crisp black pinstripe suit with a coat that had tails so long they almost dragged along the ground. He had a smile on his face, his cane inbetween his side and arm, and a huge roll of cash filing through his gloved fingers. He took in a deep breath of the fresh post-twilight air, and felt something smash into him. He let out a sound that was a combination of a shout and a groan. Whatever had hit him sent him flat on his back, and it didn't move. As he lied there on the ground with something almost as big as he was, but not very happy, on top of him, he suddenly felt colder for some reason. He opened his eyes and looked at the hand he had been holding his money in and saw his two million yen being blown away by the wind.

"Oh give me a break." He then looked forward and saw that what had run into him was a person in a white coat. They had their face buried in his chest. This irritated him vastly; he really didn't like being touched by people who didn't have his permission to do so.

"Are you blind?!" he demanded with a slight snarl. "Watch where you're goin'!"

"I am so sorry Sir." That statement revealed to him that the battering ram on top of him was a woman. She lifted her head to look at him, and Kessler lost his breath.

"You... are beyond beautiful." He said with a struggle, and he meant it. She had sad grey eyes and auburn hair that was shorter than his. Her skin was pale and flawless. Kessler then felt a strange sensation of being chilled by a winter's breeze.

"I think you are the one who is blind Sir." Her voice was emotionless and monotonous. "I am useless."

"Useless?" Kessler parroted with confusion. The woman then dropped her head back onto his body. He felt an almost eerie warm sensation on his leg. He moved one of his hands down to where it was and ran his fingers along it. He brought it back up to look at and saw that his hand was completely coated in blood. "Oh God..."

**XXXXXX END OF FLASHBACK**

Kazehana took another long swig from her enormous sake bottle and looked down into the yard at her Ashikabi lying down with his legal wife. Normally she would playfully butt in and try to capture Kessler's attention, but things would be best if she didn't for a while. Ever since giving up drinking, Kessler had gained a fuse that was almost microscopic. Anything could make him suddenly lose control of himself and he would scream bloody murder at whoever was closest to him. It was as if he was two people constantly fighting to be the dominate personality. Only when he was with Akitsu would he remain calm irregardless of what was going on around him, and those moments of inner peace were important to him.

After only two days of going cold turkey, his withdrawal symptoms hit him like a runaway locomotive. His fingers began to involuntarily twitch every few seconds. After five days, he lost almost all pygment in his skin and he now had a permanent appearance of a corpse. His entire body would shake if he stood still for more than a few seconds. He lost the ability to sleep and began to hallucinate at times. He grew a case of paranoia and would constantly dart his eyes around expecting a trap to spring out at him. Then came the random mood swings...

**XXXXXX**

"What is it?" he sighed with boredom. Matsu had told him that she had something of the utmost importance to tell him, so he found himself lying down in the hidden room, not caring about anything but not having anything else to do.

"We got it. All of it." She said with a satisfied smile.

"All of what?"

"The records of the tests MBI ran on Akitsu."

He went from indifferent to infatuated in half a second. He scrambled himself off the floor and crawled over next to Matsu and stared at the monitors and all the information on them.

"Question." He began without looking away from the glowing screens. "If I send this to some... connections, and they reverse engineer it, could it fix her?"

"Well... there's several different things to take into account..." Before she could explain what she meant, she found herself breathing the air as Kessler. His eyes were inches from hers and they had murder in them.

"Will. It. Work?" He said slowly and menacingly.

"Well... most likely, yes." She answered truthfully.

His anger became nonexistent within a nanosecond. He then received a message on his phone and he read it to himself as Matsu stared at him in silence.

**XXXXXX**

"Are you kidding me?!" Takami said loudly as she and Minaka looked at the monitor which showed them the participants of the next match. "Do you just pick them on the spot and at random?!"

"Of course!" Minaka replied with his confident smile. "It keeps things interesting."

**XXXXXX**

Good fortune had smiled on Haruka and his one Sekirei Kuno. They had panicked when Haruka got a message from MBI saying that he and Kuno were required to compete against others, and that all Ashikabi could bring as many Sekirei as they saw necessary. By some devine luck, both of their opponents so far also had only one Sekirei with them.

"Maybe they'll destroy each other and we could win by default," he said to his extremely nervous Sekirei

"Don't worry Namiji," Takano said to his beloved Sekirei. "We'll win for sure. Nothing will ever come between us."

"I love you Takano-san." His brunette Sekirei set down her huge ax and embraced him dearly, and he returned it.

"Ha! This'll be a cakewalk!" Yukari proclaimed as she carefully observed her and Shiina's foes.

"I don't know, didn't the text say that four Ashikabi were being called here?" Shiina asked with uneasiness.

Before she could give a response, a raspy voice spoke very loudly from a heavily shadowed spot on the side of the old road.

"Children. They pit us against children. How... degrading." The source of the voice stepped out of the shadows and all three other Ashikabi lost their vestiges of hope die on the spot. There was a man standing in a position so that the four Ashikabi made a square. He had on a pitch black suit and a silver cane in his hand. He had a huge and hideous scar on his left cheek. And with him were four Sekirei.


	4. The Floors Are Burning Down

**A/N: This contains the entire chapter previous as well as the next one. I saw it as too short and decided to combine them, and I shall delete the other chapter.**

**Also, as a forewarning to all readers who do not have some way of tracking/following this story except by name, the title is soon to be changed to Tattered And Torn.**

**XXXXXX**

Kessler looked his competition (if they even deserved to be called that), taking in the fact that he couldn't possibly lose, whatever this match would bring. They were all clearly afraid of him, and for good reason. Three Sekirei versus his four. Victory was a guarantee. But he still had a case of paranoia.

"Do we have to worry about any of them?" He whispered to Karasuba who was standing on his left. Next to her was Kazehana, and on Kessler's other side were the Lightning Twins.

"The blonde one, Kuno, is worthless. As for the other two..." She kept her tired grin as she trailed off. Before he could ask her anything else, a loud voice that seemed to come from everywhere explained the match and its rules.

"Somewhere in the area are two Jinki. The first Ashikabi to grab a Jinki will be its winner." It had put emphasis on the word Ashikabi.

"Short, sweet, and to the point," Kessler said with a grin. He looked over at his still frightened opponents and walked forward with his four Sekirei in tow. "Okay, so here are MY rules: don't move or I will sick my Sekirei onto yours."

"What, you think you have control in this?!" The female Ashikabi shouted at him. Her Sekirei looked extremely nervous.

"What, I don't?" Kessler said back with a smirk.

"I think it would be in best interest if you didn't make him angry," Kuno fearfully said to the overconfident Ashikabi. "I don't want to die, and I really don't want the War Ashikabi to construct my death."

"War...?" Yukari looked at Kessler more closely as he smiled at her. Sure enough she recalled the descriptions of one of the most feared Ashikabis in the entire Plan, and the man in the white suit fit them all perfectly. Three silver teeth, a huge scar going across his entire left cheek down to his chin. Horrifying violet eyes.

"The fires of war shall burn everything the victim holds dear." Kessler grinned with a smug visage.

"I have an idea," Haruka whispered to his nearly catatonic Kuno.

"So, should we just kill all of them?" Karasuba asked as she unsheathed her nodachi. Before anyone could give a reaction, a deafening screamed filled the air. Instantly after it entered the ear drums of a the competitors the slapped their hands over their ears and screamed as well. After a few seconds tat felt like hours, the noise finally died and everybody caught their bearings.

"What the Hell was that?" Kessler asked in a strained voice. He looked over and saw the other two Ashikabi were just as confused. "Wait... what happened to..." His eyes widened as realization hit him. "So that's how this is gonna go, eh?" He turned to take off and all his Sekirei followed to begin their search for the Jinki, determined to get both of them first. That would raise his collection to exactly half of them; these two, the one he got after defeating Mikogami, and the one he took from Higa after...

"Shouldn't we make sure those other four don't take off?" Hibiki asked.

"I'm planning on them to just that." Kessler grinned to himself. He stopped and looked back to the area where the four Ashikabi had gathered, and sure enough it was devoid of living creatures. "Now the real fun can begin. Hikari, Hibiki, and Karasuba, I want all of you to spread out and find the prizes, and make sure they don't get near them."

"Sounds like fun," Karasuba said as she smiled like a madman and unsheathed her sword.

Kessler instantly saw what she intended to do if any of the other three teams had the horrendous luck of encountering her. "But do _not_ kill them!"

Karasuba looked at him as her psychotic smile shrank back down to her familiar lazy grin.

"What about me?" Kazehana asked sweetly.

"It'd be stupid if I walked around here alone," Kessler said knowing she would get the point. Karasuba and the Lightning Twins leapt off into the air in search of the Jinki, leaving Kessler to walk on the ground-level with the one Sekirei he had that openly tried to seduce him on a regular basis.

"So what made you decide to let _me _be your bodyguard for once?" She asked in a suggestive tone as she wrapped her arms around Kessler.

He slithered out of her grasp. "Simple; Karasuba... well, is Karasuba. And the other two tend to lose their rather short tempers very easily. So I wanted to have some quietness for once."

"Is that all?" she asked with the same sensual voice.

"Yes." He deliberately stressed the one word. He began looking around in every direction, searching for the prizes. "Where are they?" He growled under his breath. He wanted to get this match over with as quickly and effortlessly as possible.

For ten minutes they wandered around aimlessly in a rather uncomfortable silence. Kazehana took it upon herself to break it.

"So what exact-" She was cut off mid-sentence when Kessler stopped without warning and held his arm out to the side, making her come to an abrupt halt as well. "What is it?"

Kessler didn't give a verbal response. He just stood there with his eyes fixated on something in front of them. Kazehana turned her vision so that she would see whatever he was, and found a painted arrow on the side of an old building pointing straight up.

"There's **_no_**_ way _it's that easy," Kessler murmured.

"Only one way to find out." Kazehana once again wrapped her arms around her Ashikabi, and before he could get away from her again she sprang high into the air, carrying him along with her. They landed on the building's roof, and gazed in awe at the Jinki positioned upright at the very center of the rooftop waiting for them. Kessler and Kazehana turned their heads at the exact same time and wound p looking at each other with looks of both excitement and apprehension.

"Well, no time like the present," Kessler said with a smile as he handed Kazehana his cane. He slowly stepped down onto the old material that was holding the roof in place, fearing it would give way and he would plummet right through it and land very painfully. Much to his, and Kazehana's relief that didn't happen, but he still walked across the rooftop as if it was nothing more than a thin sheet of cracked ice. It took him a decent interval of time, but eventually he reached the center of the roof, and the Jinki was within an arm's reach. But rather than picking it up at first, he looked down at it, frozen.

"What's the matter?"

Kessler jumped to his side when Kazehana's voice spoke from right next to him. He looked over to see that she was smiling innocently at him. She offered him his silver cane and he humbly took it.

"Nothing. Just... surprised. And worried that something bad is gonna happen."

"What could possibly happen when it's literally right in front of you?"

"You're right!" He smiled and crouched down. He slowly extended his arm towards the transparent jewel. Just as he was halfway to claiming victory, someone came from above, and their foot crashed down on his extended hand. He let out a very agonized scream as he pulled his hand back towards him, threw down his cane and used his now free hand to cradle his burning limb. He kept his eye tightly shut and grimaced with bared teeth. Despite his situation, it took him half a second to realize it was a Sekirei that had landed on him.

"Oh God, I think she's shattered my **BLOODY** hand!" The pain that was consuming him made him innately speak his native and primary language.

"What?" Kazehana said with sheer confusion. "I didn't understand _any_ of that."

Kessler shook his head, reminding himself to speak the language of the land. He looked up while still holding onto his throbbing hand to see who had assaulted him. His breath died instantly. "**YOU!?** You're supposed to be **DEAD!**"


	5. Can't Find A Window

**Not possible.**

That's how Kessler saw his situation. He was so close to claiming his prize and winning, and out of nowhere someone whom he assumed and was assured was dead had gone and broken all the bones in his left hand, which he was pressing into his chest and holding in place with his other arm while his right hand gripped his cane and pressed into his left shoulder. Kazehana was carefully holding onto him, making sure he didn't fall over should the pain surmount his tolerance.

"Uzume..." He said as if scolding her for disobeying. "Why the Hell are you here? No, y'know what? Scratch that. HOW the Hell are you here?!"

"Your enforcer didn't finish the job," she answered. Even though she had made him vulnerable, it was obvious she was afraid of him. "She left me clinging for life, but I managed to crawl to help. I barely made it out alive."

"Okay," Kessler saw that as logical and acceptable. "Now unscratch my first question. WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

"Because I know what problems infest you," she said gently. "And that you can't keep going on in the Sekirei Plan." She sounded concerned and genuine, but Kessler wasn't buying it.

"Yeah right!" Kessler yelled. He made sure to make a spectacle with his exclamation so that the Veil Sekirei wouldn't notice him pressing his fingers down on the silver orb that was the top of his cane, which was also a beacon and tracking device that would Karasuba right to him. He continued with his rant, which was actually his true thoughts and opinions of what was really going on. "You're just here to make sure I lose! To make it so I am further humiliated! To see me lose to people who couldn't even dream to be my equal!" He was pronounciating so loudly that saliva flew out of his mouth with almost every syllable. "And also, what the Hell do you know about what ails me?!"

"That you're addicted to winning." Uzume had an accurate feeling that he saw the Sekirei Plan as one big game with the highest stakes: life and death. And she knew that he loved to gamble, and with such high risks and celestial rewards, the Sekirei Game was like a supersized Las Vegas to him. He would stop at almost nothing to win it all.

"So what if I am?" He growled through his gritted teeth as he and Kazehana walked towards and past her. He picked up the Jinki and observed his prize. He spoke in a more calm voice, "That makes three..."

"Is that why you killed Higa?" Uzume asked. "Because you want to win so badly?"

Kessler turned his head and neck to look at her. "Who says I killed him?" he asked in a mischievous tone.

"Who else has Sekirei powerful enough to get that close to him?"

In response he simply let out a laugh. "Plenty of people. Besides, I aim to win this Game as quickly as possible. So-"

"Is that another reason you killed him?" Uzume interrupted. "To claim your ultimate prize in as little time as possible?"

"Even if I did off him, that wouldn't have been the reason," he said in a slightly more serious tone. "And that reason is one you'll never know." His voice then sounded of a mixture of defensiveness and fear. "Kazehana, we are leaving. And Uzume..." As if on cue Karasuba came out of nowhere and landed on the opposite side her Ashikabi so that she and Kazehana were on either one. "Don't follow us home."

He walked away with Kazehana, leaving Uzume to be alone with Karasuba and her half-insane grin and tired eyes. Fortunately neither of them attacked and both went their separate ways after several minutes of an extremely uncomfortable silence.

"Aren't we going to look for the second Jinki?" Kazehana asked her Ashikabi. They were now walking down one of the streets towards home in the early morning sun. Kessler looked even more ragged and worn down than usual, if that was even possible.

"There's more important things to attend to." He stated looking at his shattered hand. He looked at his surroundings and saw a hospital owned by MBI not too far up ahead. He then gently pushed her away. "This is where we part." He said looking at her. "Go home and tell Akitsu and only Akitsu to go to that hospital up the road. That's where I'm going before my hand mends itself like this. Oh, and take this and put in my and Akitsu's room." He handed her the Jinki they had just won.

Kazehana looked at him very carefully. She saw that it was pointless to argue. This was a time he wanted to heal in the company of only his legal wife. She took the Jinki out of his hand.

"Alright, my love," she said before leaping off to home.

"I'm not your love," Kessler said long after she was gone.

XXXXXX

Akitsu raced as fast as she could to the hospital Kazehana had told her about. As soon as she arrived and told the receptionist who she was, she was greeted rather casually.

"Ah yes. Your Ashikabi-"

"Husband." Akitsu corrected with a small hint sternness in her voice.

"... Husband," the clerk continued with the correction. "Is in surgery. But he should be out in a few hours. You are more than welcome to sit in the lobby until then."

"Gladly." She turned to walk away but was stopped.

"Before you go, he had this on him." She reached down and produced Akitsu's husband's favorite cane. Black metal except for its bottom tip and spherical top, both of which were a polished steel-silver. She took it without another word and waited. After a good portion of the day he finally stepped out of the surgery hall with a doctor standing next to him holding a clipboard.

"Just sign here, Mr. Kessler."

"Yeah yeah," he said with boredom. He took the pen out of the doctor's other hand and signed the paper without even looking at it. The surgeon looked at the paper, nodded in approval, and the two men began walking in separate directions. Kessler made his way to his wife, who hugged him warmly.

He let out a content sigh and returned the embrace. Akitsu handed him his cane and then wrapped herself around his damaged arm, careful not cause him any pain. They walked out of the hospital and into the early evening.

"Wow, I was in there for a while, wasn't I?" Kessler said as he looked at the orange sky.

"Yes," Akitsu answered. "How many times did they have reposition the bones?"

"Well actually, they put them back in place in about ten minutes," He said with a smile. "MBI and their toys. Anyway, they said that was that, but I asked if they could speed the healing process up. They named a steep price, I signed a check and a waiver. They injected a lot of Morphine into me and then zapped me with a few things. Next thing I know they're telling me it's only as if I sprained my wrist." He brought up his left hand to reveal that around his wrist was an Ace-Bandage. "I'm sorry for making you wait so long. Didn't know how long it was going to take."

"It's fine," Akitsu assured him. "Just so long as you're alright."

"Well, not for long," Kessler said with another sigh. "I'm probably gonna get tackled and zapped when we get home."

"Not for a while. Today is Shopping Race day."

"Really?" Kessler's violet eyes brightened. "Then it looks like they'll have to dine without us."

"What do you mean?" Akitsu asked with the slightest race of curiosity.

"We're going out to a fancy dinner."

And so, not thirty minutes later the couple found themselves in a highly luxurious and exclusive restaurant. Chandeliers provided all the lighting and a string quartet played classical music.

They were sitting on opposite ends of a circular table, drinking ice water and waiting for their meal. While waiting, Akitsu noticed something. Normally she was quiet, bit right now so was her husband, which was not normal. He seemed to be lost in deep thought. He kept taking in and letting out deep breaths and pressing his fingers together.

"Is something wrong, Jack?" she asked. Since they were alone she allowed concern to be heard in her voice.

"No, no. It's nothing Darling," he assured her. But he really was deep in his own mind, thinking about what Uzume had said earlier. The term she had used to describe Karasuba. Enforcer. The more he pondered on that, the more he came to realize he could truly be an Ashikabi of war. He had two powerful Single Numbers, a pair of twins who could fight in a Sekirei Battle together, and plentiful resources. This made him one of the three most powerful competitors in the Sekirei Plan.

But there was another fact that was far more notable. He had eliminated one of the most powerful Ashikabi in the entire game by the might of his own hand.

He was pulled back into reality when there was a tap on his shoulder. He looked over to see a tall man in a black business suit and short hair looking down at him through sunglasses.

"Mr. Kessler?" He said in a very authoritative voice.

"Yea?" he answered nervously.

Instead of a verbal response, the man reached into his pocket, and then handed him a small cardboard box. It looked like it was made to hold a cellphone. The man then walked away without another word.

"What was that about?" Akitsu asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," Kessler answered a he looked at the box. It was for him alright, and the return address was his home back in America. That meant it could only be one thing. This revelation was short lived; as he placed the package safely within his jacket's inner pocket, he saw his rival make his way towards them. "Of all the... First her, now him."

Akitsu looked over her shoulder and saw Mikogami with a small smile on his face. She instinctually moved from the chair across from Kessler over to the one next to him. He took her hand after she set it down on the table.

"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise?" Mikogami cheerfully said as he took their invitation and sat down across from them. "Here I was hoping to have a nice dinner, and as an extra I find my favorite married couple."

"Hello Mikogami," Kessler said with his own positiveness. "Can I offer you a drink?"

"Ummm... I can't..."

"Oh yeah. Sorry, forget. How about a smoke?"

"Now you're making fun of me," Mikogami said with a friendly smile.

"What was your first clue?" Kessler said with his own grin. "But seriously, what do you want? And also, I notice you don't have any Sekirei to watch your sorry ass."

"Well, like I said, I didn't expect to see you, but me not having Mutsu isn't an issue. We're in a crowded, public place, and we both know MBI doesn't people who aren't Ashikabi or Sekirei knowing about the Game."

"Point seen and taken." Kessler's nerves were now being aggitated by his juvenile rival.

"But there's business to see to," Mikogami said with a more serious tone. "There's something I think you should really hear. Something of dire importance."

"Don't you have any friends you can annoy?" Kessler asked trying to keep his cool.

"Ah, that brings out a way you and I are alike," Mikogami said with his same irritating smile.

"What makes you think we have anything in common?" Kessler's wit was getting closer and closer to its end.

"Oh I've done my research on you. I know that your birth name is Jonathan M. Corben." Mikogami could tell that he now had the undivided attention of the man who considered him a rival. "I know that you are the heir to an American construction empire that has a monopoly. I know that you are an engineer who specializes in explosives. And I know what happened to your parents."

"Does this have a point?" Kessler asked as he was about to lose what little patience he had left. "Or do you just get off to the sound of your own voice?"

"Charming. But yes, the point is you and I are alike in several aspects. For instance. We both have more money than we know what to do with, and we both were alone growing up."

"Alright. I admit you got me there," Kessler said.

"I figured I would," Mikogami said with a small smile. "But there's more. We both were lonely before we got involved with Sekirei."

"Point taken," Kessler said as he gave a gentle squeeze on Akitsu's hand. "But that brings up a question I've been meaning to ask you ever since you gave me this..." He gestured to his hideously noticeable scar on the left side of his face that ran from his ear to his lips. Mikogami let out a nervous chuckle. "... Why do you need so many Sekirei?" He picked up his water and began to slowly drink as he waited for an answer.

"For the reason I just said," Mikogami said. "Because I didn't want to be lonely."

Akitsu's eyes widened. Kessler began to choke on his water. He turned his head to the side away from his wife and did a spit-take. He coughed a few times before looking back to Mikogami.

"That's IT?!" Kessler didn't sound confused or surprised. He was furious. "You ruined all their lives for THAT REASON?! YOUR OWN SELFISH AGENDA?!"

"Ruined?" Mikogami repeated. He was now confused and fully afraid. He had never seen Kessler explode like this; he had only been humorous whenever they had acquainted each other. "How did I ruin their lives, exactly?"

"Well for starters, I highly doubt all of them were born to be with you!" Kessler was radiating anger. "Forcing them to be Winged... Making them hunt down their brothers and sisters."

"Okay, maybe I did make them Emerge," Mikogami admitted. "That doesn't mean I made them miserable."

"Why, because you have money and power?" Kessler said in a child-like voice with a forced smile. His rage then returned to his face. "Of all the..." He began to rant in his native language. He continued talking as he began to look around the room, making it seem he was mostly talking to himself.

"Uh, what is he saying?" Mikogami asked Akitsu as the War Ashikabi continued to vent.

"He is using incredibly offensive terms to describe you," she explained in her usual bored voice. "And he is repeatedly saying a word that is both extremely vulgar and slang for having intercourse."

"Wow. English is an interesting language."

Finally, Kessler seemed to have regained some control over himself and continued speaking in a language everybody present could understand. "You know what, kid? You may be right about us having a lot in common, but there's one big, one major difference."

"What?" Mikogami asked.

"When I was alone and miserable, I at least had the decency to destroy only my own life."

"I see... But there's still one more thing we have in common."

"And what's that?" Kessler asked even though he didn't care anymore.

"We both have an insatiable desire, even a need, to win the Sekirei Plan." He turned his vision to Akitsu. "And I plan to get as strong as possible. Every Sekirei counts, broken or not."

"I know what you are implying," Akitsu said.

"Good. Then you must also know that, if it should come to it, I will unleash my full force of Sekirei to get what I want. Unless of course you walk out of here with me."

"And what makes you think I'll do that?" Akitsu asked. Kessler was seething with an urge to break every bone in Mikogami's body in a system that would allow him to live the longest possible amount of time.

"Simple. You may be his wife, but you're still not his Sekirei. He didn't Wing you, therefore you are free game."

"Kid..." Kessler growled through his gritted teeth. "I am so close to launching myself over this table and strangling you." He then took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and regained his composure. He even looked amused. "But I think it would be funnier if I spit right in your face, figuratively speaking." He then turned to Akitsu and said, "Darling, this might hurt a little."

Without warning he dug out the small box in his jacket pocket and tore it open. Inside was a small syringe filled with a glowing teal liquid. Also in the box was a note written in his grandfather's unmistakeable handwriting which read, 'Not sure why you had the boys make this, but you've always had your reasons.'

He quickly read the note and then stuck the needle in his wife's right forearm. It felt like a small prick to her, so it hardly mattered. He pushed the plunger down and injected the contents into Akitsu. He then threw away the syringe, gently grabbed his wife's face in his hands, and kissed her. The room filled with silver-blue light as wings manifested on Akitsu's back. The symbol on her forehead which marked her as a broken test subject vanished and reappeared on her back. When he pulls himself away, Kessler looked into his soulmate's surprise-filled eyes.

"Jack... What did you just..." She was feeling a strange variety of feelings; surprise, shock, happiness, relief. It was nearly impossible for her to talk coherently.

"It's just like what I said when we met," he said warmly. "I'd do anything to make you as happy as possible." He then turned to a shocked Mikogami with a much colder veneer. "As for you, heed this warning: if you fuck with me, I will royally fuck you up several times over."

"I will do that." He said fearfully.

XXXXXX

As they walked back home, Akitsu couldn't stop feeling her forehead, making sure again and again that the symbol was gone.

"Well, it seems my grandfather's employees are good for something besides building skyscrapers." Kessler said with a smile.

"How... How did you even do this?" She asked with wonder.

"Matsu helped me steal some data from MBI's research division. And I gave said data to the people at the empire I am going to inherit and instructed them to reverse engineer it."

"Thank you." Akitsu said as a joyful tear rolled down her cheek. They turned and began making their way down the stone walkway towards the door of the Inn.

"Anything for you." When they reached the front door he gently unwrapped her from around his arm. "I think Hikari and Hibiki are going to give me a little welcome-home present as soon as we enter the door."

He pushed open the door expecting something painful to happen to him. Much to his surprise, nothing did. Nobody was there to shock, tackle, or even greet him. He heard chatter coming from one of the other rooms and he and Akitsu made their way towards it. When they stepped into the doorway they saw everybody who lived in Maison Izumo seated around the room all wearing serious veneers. His Sekirei all turned to look at him first and the rest soon followed.

"Ah, there you are," Karasuba said with her usual tired smile.

"Kessler," Minato said as he stood up and accosted him. "I need to ask you something." He had a very serious and determined expression.

"Wait wait wait! You're friend is HIM!" A somewhat familiar voice shouted. Kessler looked around and found one of the Ashikabi and Sekirei who had been involved in the match earlier. It was the one whose Sekirei had temporarily deafened everyone else. His face was full of anger and fear. "He threatened, and tried, to kill us!"

"It was nothing personal," Kessler said with a smirk.

"It's nice to see you're back to your laid-back self, Jack-kun," Kazehana said breathily as she leaned on him, pressing her chest into his arm.

"It's good to be back. Now please get off of me." He turned his attention back to Minato. "Now then, you wanted to ask me something?"

"I need your help with something."

"No shit. Anything in particular?"

XXXXXX

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The residents of the Inn decided to celebrate the eve of the escape plan with a party. Kazehana was already drunk, and Kessler hated her for that. He needed some air so he made his way towards the back hall. Just as he was about to open the door, he heard two familiar voices, Minato and Tsukiumi.

"Tell me... Dost thou ever wish to make love to thy wife?"

Kessler could feel the pain and desperation in her voice, and found a stimulation that could suffice his lack of being drunk off his ass. He forced the door open and made himself known.

"Minato, my good friend. I thought we established this earlier; you don't need her, you got me!" He had a wide smile on his face.

"Uh, right. Sorry," Minato said with a very red face. He walked back into the house to the debauchery.

"Ah. So young." Kessler said. He looked at the aggravated Water Sekirei. "Take it from me, a husband tends to like it when his wife supports what he believes in."

"Well, we shouldn't help those cowards!" She said defensively.

"What's this 'we' nonsense?" Kessler was now enjoying himself, messing with the woman who had tried to kill him several times. "Last I checked, you are gonna watch him die."

"What makes you think he'll die?" Tsukiumi asked with sudden concern.

"Oh I'm sorry. I momentarily forgot he had ME on his side. So thus, this will work. After all, I've two Single Numbers on my side."

"Well... As I recall, your actual wife isn't going to participate in this foolish escapade!"

"That would be a good point," he admitted while walking to the center of the yard. He then put another half-mad smile across his lips. "IF I had not asked her to stay. For me, she said yes. I like it when my wife does what I want her to. Perhaps you should try it sometime. Minato might start liking you!" He laughed uncontrollably.

"Listen Kessler..." Tsukiumi said in a very threatening voice. She stomped over to him. "I am a Sekirei, and you are but a human."

"And this gives you power over me?" he asked condescendingly. "And you think we humans are weak? I don't think Minato will like that little statement. But it hardly matters. Musubi made it clear earlier that she'll do anything she can to help him through life. And take another word from me, that is the kind of girl a man wants by his side."

The next thing he knew, a geyser of water shot at him and he slammed into the stone wall surrounding the yard. He was soaking wet and sat down in the grass with his back pressed on the wall. And yet a smile was on his face. He was on a natural high.

"Heed my warning, Kessler," Tsukiumi said. But before she could go on, something cold struck her in the back. She stumbled but managed to regain her balance. She looked behind her and saw Akitsu, her eyes slightly narrowed.

"Perhaps you should heed my warning..." Her voice still sounded of its usual detachment, but yet it was dripping venom. "Do that again, and I shall freeze you solid from the inside out."

"Ha! Back away, Broken One!" Tsukiumi said with a dangerously overconfident smirk. "You don't stand a chance against me!"

"Broken? Perhaps you should take a closer and careful look." She used one of her hands to lift her auburn hair off her forehead to reveal that the Sekirei Symbol was no more. Tsukiumi's smile vanished. Akitsu moved her hand away and brought it back down to her side, allowing her hair to fall back onto her forehead. "I'm not broken anymore. I am your equal, if not your superior."

Tsukiumi's pride took that to heart as an insult. She made orbs of water manifest in the air surrounding her. "We shall see about that!"

"Indeed." A myriad of icicles manifested around Akitsu.


End file.
